


Cold Water

by Alex (mermaid_lance), mermaid_lance



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Hunk and Lance know how to surf, Keith did ballet once, M/M, Multi, and hella flexible, but only Hunk surfs now because you know why, established shay/hunk, hes kickass at it, mermaid au, poor Lance he just wants to surf, shiro and Keith are siblings, slight angst, slow burn (klance), the galra are sirens
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-12
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-08-14 15:09:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8018788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mermaid_lance/pseuds/Alex, https://archiveofourown.org/users/mermaid_lance/pseuds/mermaid_lance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith was searching for his brother but found a mermaid instead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Out Of The Sea

**Author's Note:**

> A mermaid au for all y'all and my tumblr is [here](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/mermaid-lance) (Playlist can be found here ). Tfw Keith is lowkey sailor mars

Keith stood at the edge of the water, gazing into its dark depths. He had gotten a lead on his brother, Shiro and his disappearance and it had led him to here. Keith dropped his towel on the large "No Swimming" sign and took off his shoes and shirt. He stepped up to the edge of the water, before plunging in.

He felt the water ripple around him as his head broke the surface of the water. Taking a deep breath, he dove back down into the depths. His hands brushed seaweed and kelp as he swam. He started to head back up towards the watery looking sunlight above him, when he felt a clawed hand dig into the flesh on his calf. Keith kicked as hard as he could to escape its grasp and the force shot him up and out of the water.

Keith landed hard on his back. He lay there for a moment, trying to catch his breath after the wind got knocked out of him. He slowly rose to his feet and that's when he saw the mermaid in front of him. Keith just about jumped out of his swim trunks.

"Oh hey," The mermaid said, his tail flicking the water, "sorry about that. Didn't know who was in my spot."

Keith jumped at the sound of his voice. He sounded extremely familiar and Keith just couldn't place his finger on how he reconized the mermaid. He moved closer to the waters edge and slipped and fell on one of the slick rocks and down into the water.

"Fuck!" He cried out as he scrambled out of the water. The mermaid laughed and pulled himself out of the water. There, to Keith's astonishment, the mermaid's tail disappeared. Keith was speechless and a little confused. He had never seen a mermaid do that before.

The former mermaid, who was wearing ratty blue swim trunks, looked a little confused by being out of the water. The look of confusion Keith saw on his face quickly disappeared and was replaced with a slight smirk. Keith swore he had seen that look somewhere before.

Keith looked at him, a little unsure as if to tell him his name. Mermaids were known for stealing souls and Keith was rather attached to his soul. After some hesitation, the mermaid finally responded.

"I'm Lance," he said, extending a hand to Keith. Keith hesitantly shook it and then it clicked. Keith knew this guy from high school. He was shaking hands with a dead man! Keith jerked his hand away, before grabbing his stuff and running off. Lance called after him, but Keith was gone.  
***

Keith was still freaked out the next day but when he came back to Lance's spot, the mermaid wasn't around. It wasn't until he got back home and was in the bathroom that he realized what happened. Lance was in the bathtub and was making a goddamn mess.

"Oh my god!" Keith yelled, absolutely surprised. There was a dead man in his bath tub and he was in his house and the bathroom floor was covered in water and bubbles. His house was cursed.

"Hi again! Nice place you have!" Lance said, before blowing a bunch of bubbles through the air. Some landed in Keith's hair, and he shrieked. Keith ran out of the bathroom and came back a few moments later with some salt. "Be gone, evil spirit!" Keith started yelling as he started throwing salt at Lance while he was in the tub. Lance's mermaid side reacted to the salt and then he had a giant, blue tail. There were now bubbles and water all over the floor. Keith swore. Now there was more to clean up.

Later, Lance stumbled into the kitchen wrapped in a towel and holding the same ratty blue pair of swim trunks he was wearing a few days earlier. Keith was still fuming as there was now a spirit in his house. His house was being invaded by spirits and Keith had swore there was protection all around the house.

"Can I wash these? I've not got anything else." Lance asked, dangling the swim trunks from one of his fingers. Keith could tell that those swim trunks would deteriorate in the wash and decided that if this mermaid was gonna be in his house today, he was probably going to want a shirt and a pair of shorts. Keith was hesitant but he decided that if this spirit was going to be here, then he at least had to humor him.

"You'll probably just want to toss those. They're not gonna make it through a wash. I have some clothes you might be able to fit though." Keith said, walking to his room. Soon enough, he came back with a pair of black basketball shorts and a white t-shirt. He handed these to Lance.

"Thanks!" He said, going back into the bathroom. When he walked back out, he sat down on the couch in the living room. He looked a bit dazed. Keith realized then that if Lance could change clothes, then he wasn't a spirit. Keith was really confused. How the fuck was Lance not dead?

"How are you still alive?" Keith asked, and Lance shrugged. Keith decided that he should go a different route.

"Are you okay? You look kinda dazed," He said, hoping Lance would give a better response. He really wanted to know what happened to him, but that might have not been the best idea at this time.

"Well, I guess not. I've kinda been kicked out of the part of the ocean I live by the damn Galra." He said, his voice bitter. Keith raised an eyebrow. What the hell were Galra?

"You probably don't know what I'm talking about but basically the Galra are this group of siren-like creatures that have been stealing the energy of the ocean to fuel their empire." Lance explained. Keith nodded. He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his leg and winced. It was that damn scratch again. He swore he had taken care of it.

Keith saw Lance's eyes droop shut. He was slowly nodding off. Keith, deciding against his better judgement, decided to let Lance crash here for the night. He walked into the living room and grabbed one of the blankets off the couch and draped it over Lance. Keith wasn't sure why the hell this mermaid was here, but he had a feeling that Lance would be in trouble if he hadn't showed up here.

Keith didn't notice the growing pain in his leg as he walked into his room and flopped on his bed. He was exhausted from searching for his brother and the addition of a lost and worried mermaid didn't help either. As he fell asleep, Keith realized that Lance didn't know Keith's name. He shrugged it off, deciding that that was a problem for another day. Keith now had another problem on his hands though. Something was changing and even though he hadn't noticed it yet, he better be ready. A storm was brewing.


	2. Back From The Dead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! I'm back with more! Sorry it's been a while. I did nanowrimo and I won with 50020 words that's a lot. Enjoy these goobers!

2  
Lance was scared. The water was raging and bubbling around him and the waves tossed him like a rag doll. He was flung above the water. If only he had listened to Pidge! He was caught in a hurricane and Lance was positive he was going to die. 

The waves and wind crashed and howled around Lance. It was heading up the coast and he had no clue where the eye of the hurricane was. All of the sudden, the wind and rain stopped. He was in the eye of the storm. Relief flooded over him. Free of the blinding rain, Lance searched for a cave or something to get into before the calm vanished. He saw a cliffside. There had to be something get cover from the rain over there. 

He swam as quickly as he could, trying to get there before the eye passed. Just as he was twenty yards away from the cliff, the wind and rain started to show up. Lance swore. He was so close. The water began to boil and Lance was swimming as fast as he possibly could. The waves began to beat him around and an especially malicious wave slammed him into the rocks. He cried out, in pain. He was bruised and battered and scared. Lance did find a cave, and pulled himself into it, exhausted. He was able to pull himself partially onto a rock, and he fell asleep as the wind and rain howled outside. 

It had been a month since the hurricane, and Lance was stranded high up the coast and wasn't sure how to get back to the other merpeople. He hoped the galra wouldn't find him. They were notorious for hurting and maiming merpeople after hurricanes. He had found a spot to hide from the galra until he figured out where the hell he was. 

He heard rustling near his hiding spot and Lance slipped silently into the water. He heard a splash just a few feet away and that scared Lance. He dove under, wanting to check out what was going on. He saw a flicker of a tail above him, and when he went to get a closer look, he only saw a pair of human legs. He swam up to get a closer look. He reached out and grabbed the human's leg, scratching and scaring them. The human quickly got out of the water, scared for their life. Lance swam up to apologize. 

***

Now, Lance was running for his life through the streets. The Galra were chasing him and all he had on was a ratty old pair of swim trunks. Man, he hated this. 

He was searching for Keith's house and finally he found it. The door was left unlocked and Lance dashed inside, and bolted the door behind him. He ran a hand through his hair and noticed it was all grimy from the sea water. He needed a bath. 

He was still in Keith's tub when Keith got home. Keith cried out in surprise and threw salt at Lance and then proceeded to ask how he got in the house. Lance knew how he got in the house, he just wasn't gonna tell Keith. He had a feeling Keith might flip out because he left the door unlocked. I mean hey, he was pretty forgetful. 

***

Lance had only been staying at Keith's house for a day and already managed to knock down the pot rack, and break a lightbulb. He didn't mean to, he just wasn't used to legs. It had been a while since he had been on land for more than a few minutes. He still wasn't sure how he was able to run from the Galra. 

Lance knew that if he was going to be on land for a while, he was going to need clothes. Right now, he was fine with borrowing Keith's clothes (they smelled nice), but he was pretty sure Keith would want the clothes back at some point. Lance was keeping this shirt though. It was blue and soft. Keith wouldn't miss it. 

A loud cry came from the kitchen and Lance jumped. He hit his head on the door frame and he swore. He went into the kitchen to figure out what the commotion was. Keith was standing there, and the kitchen floor was covered in water. 

"How?" Lance asked, and that was the only thing he could say as he quickly stepped out of the kitchen. 

"I don't know. One moment I'm in the living room, and then I'm here in the kitchen and the sink is overflowing." Keith explained. 

Lance had to push down the terror that was rising up inside him. He had heard stories about this happening to people who were scratched by mers. Their memory blanked out for a minute or two and then the child found themself in a room that had a tap, and then flooding the room. He had a bad feeling that telling Keith that he had caused this might cause Keith to flip his shit. 

"I don't think I can come in there, Keith. There's a good possibility I could end up with my tail, and I'm not risking that. You're gonna have to turn the tap off yourself." Lance explained, then turned to go get Keith a towel. He had to be somewhat helpful. 

Keith sloshed through the water, and was suddenly pushed back by a wave of water that came from nowhere. He cried out as he slipped backwards into the water. Keith fumbled for the top of the counter to pull himself back up. He got back to the running tap, and reached out to push the handle down and the handle was blazing hot. He shrieked and withdrew his hand immediately. What the fuck was going on?

Lance ran to the kitchen door, and recoiled in surprise when he felt water on the floor. Keith still hadn't managed to turn off the tap? Lance threw the towel on the couch and made a snap decision to go in the kitchen to help Keith out. He splashed through the water to where Keith leaned against the counter, holding his burned hand. 

"Why's your hand burnt?" Lance asked, taking Keith's hand to inspect it. It wasn't awful, but it looked painful. Lance grimaced. He dropped Keith's hand, before wading through the water to the tap. He attempted to push the handle down, but it was stuck. Keith noticed him struggling and came over to help. Somehow, they managed to turn off the water. Lance and Keith surveyed the sopping wet kitchen. 

"Well, looks like we'll have to clean this up. That'll be a pain in the ass, huh?" Lance said, walking towards the kitchen door with Keith's hand in his so that they didn't fall. 

"I mean, yeah you're right about that, but I'm not sure how. Do you know?" Keith replied and Lance nodded. 

"Trust me, Keith, I'm a mermaid. We merpeople know how to handle stuff like this. It's not like it's never happened before." He said, and then turned to face the kitchen. He lifted his hand and began to lift the water from the floor. It squelched into a ball of water, shimmering and rippling as he walked it to the back door in the kitchen. Lance tugged open the door and threw the ball of water out the door. It splattered in the yard, water flying up into the air in a large splash. 

"That was cool!" Keith exclaimed. Lance winked and turned to walk back inside, and tripped over the threshold of the door. Keith snickered. 

"Don't laugh, mullet boy." He said, glaring at Keith from the floor. Keith couldn't do it, and he clutched his stomach, laughing so hard, tears were forming in his eyes. This was ridiculous. 

"Guess your legs are still a little funky, huh?" Keith said, helping Lance off the floor. Lance scoffed. His legs were fine. Super fine. He told Keith this, and Keith rolled his eyes. 

"Don't worry, Keith, you'll appreciate my lovely legs at some point. They are pretty great, right?" He said, putting his leg up on the counter. Rolling his eyes, Keith put his leg up on the counter, his foot pointed perfectly. Doing ballet for years had its perks. 

"Holy shit..." Lance said, in awe. He couldn't do that for shit. He was actually kinda stuck with his leg on the counter. 

"Hey, Keith, can you help me out here? I'm kinda, well, I'm stuck." He said. Keith snickered, and pushed Lance's leg off the counter. He proceeded to pull his leg off the counter almost effortlessly. He looked over and saw Lance holding his thigh to his chest as he lied on the floor. 

"Why'd you do that, Keith? That's so mean!" He complained. Keith sighed and grabbed Lance's hand and helped him up off the ground. Keith heard a knock at the door as Lance stood up. Shit. 

"Uh, I'll be right back," he said, hurrying over to the door. He tugged it open and there was Hunk, his messenger bag slung across his shoulder. It was halfway open, but before Keith mentioned this, Lance sauntered out of the kitchen, holding a can of bug spray. He saw Hunk and his jaw dropped. Hunk froze and Keith stood between the two of them, very confused. 

"I thought you were dead!" Hunk yelled. Lance dropped the can of bug spray in surprise. He hadn't seen Hunk in three years. He hadn't seen any of his friends or family who lived on land in three years. He thought they had all moved. Guess not. 

"Well, Hunk, my dude, I'm not dead."


	3. Troubling Tides

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keith, he eat that sand. Honestly, rip Keith in general. 
> 
> (Playlist is [here](https://open.spotify.com/user/alexhall3536/playlist/7AzvxU7koaf5Z8fuUp6k9f))

"So let me get this straight. The day we went surfing years ago, you didn't actually drown when that rogue wave swamped you, but you got attacked by a weird ass mermaid thing and you're not dead? Trippy."

"Did you think a grey suit got me? I mean, it felt like one did at first." Lance replied, leaning back. Keith looked back and forth between them, and honestly, he wasn't sure what Lance was talking about. 

"You know what, you could totally teach Keith how to surf. It would be sick!" Lance said, swatting Hunk's arm. 

"Wha-?" Hunk said, not sure of what Lance said. He realized a moment later that he had suggested that Keith learn how to surf. Hunk gave Lance a funny look. Keith didn't know how to surf. What if he wiped out or something, or died?

"Lance, man, I don't think that's a good idea. Keith doesn't know how to surf!" He said, grabbing Lance's shoulders. 

"Woah, take it easy there, big guy. You just call Shay and tell her that we got a guy she needs to teach how to surf, because, honestly, Hunk, you're gonna stress the poor guy out." Lance said. 

"Shay's off at college, Lance." Hunk said, crossing his arms. 

"Oh. Well I guess you're gonna have to be the one to teach Keith how to surf. I bet he'll be fine, and he won't eat it."

"Eat what?" Keith asked, because he had completely zoned out while Lance and Hunk were talking. 

"Sand," they both replied, and Keith stared. Why would he eat sand?

***

Later on, Keith did eat sand. It was on accident, of course, but he ate sand. But Lance saved him from drowning and Keith couldn't help but realize how pretty Lance looked when he saved him. Lance's tail was this really pretty blue and it was something that Keith had never really noticed, or maybe it was the blue of the water that brought it out. Hell, he didn't know. His head was still a little scrambled after getting swamped by that wave. 

Before that happened though, Hunk was teaching Keith how to surf. They stood on the beach, and Lance holding a board. Lance looked really sad when Hunk took the board from him, as he explained to Keith how to surf. Keith couldn't help but wave to Lance as Hunk explained everything. He didn't see Keith wave and Keith frowned. 

Lance was running his hands through the sand as he watched Keith and Hunk out in the surf. They splashed around a moment and Lance desperately wanted to be out there with them, and after a moment's hesitation, he jumped up and ran towards the surf, nearly tripping when he reached the waves. 

He dove down into the deeper water, and watched as his tail materialized as his legs stopped thrashing. His head breaking the water, Lance swam over to Hunk and Keith. Resting a hand on Keith's board, he snickered when Keith jumped from the sudden movement of the board. 

"Miss me?" He said, wiggling his eyebrows. Keith rolled his eyes as Hunk snickered. Keith pushed Lance's hands off the board and as per Hunk's instructions, started to paddle out. 

Lance didn't watch Keith surfing at first, because he could've sworn he had just seen Pidge. She usually didn't come out this far, but she had surfed the waves over here before. She had somehow gotten ahold of this sort of spell that would enable her to come on land, and still get in the water without having to deal with a tail. He still hadn't managed to convince her to give him the spell when the hurricane showed up. 

Keith faced the wave head on, and managed to get on it. He stood up, a little wobbly. He pumped a fist up in the air, whooping in excitement. Keith proceeded to lose his balance, the wave swamping over him. As he tried to resurface, the board floated over his head and he hit his head, which disoriented him.

Lance heard Hunk yelling a moment later, and when he looked at Hunk, he saw Keith had vanished. Lance dove under, looking for Keith. He saw him, about 20 yards away. He looked disoriented and freaked out, and Lance darted after him, trying to get to him before another wave crashed over either of them's head. 

Out of the blue, Lance appeared, scaring the shit out Keith. He kicked and thrashed until he realized it was Lance. Just as he reached for him, another wave washed over their heads and it pushed Keith down into the sand.

Resurfacing, he spit sand out of his mouth, and Lance grabbed onto him before another wave swamped the two of them. Pulling the board along behind the two of them, Keith was nearly thrown out onto the beach. He sputtered and cursed as Lance laughed from the water. Lance's tail broke the water, and Keith was entranced. It was a lovely blue, shimmering in the sea. 

All of the sudden, Keith felt a burning pain in his thigh, and he reached down, trying to see if there was any blood. It was the scratch he had received from Lance and boy, it fucking burned. It burned even more when his fingers touched it and he couldn't help but let out a little yelp of pain. Lance looked up. 

"What's wrong, Keithy boy?" Lance said, and Keith couldn't speak, because the pain had just intensified. Lance saw the pained expression on Keith's face, and he hauled Keith back into the water. The burning began to subside, and Hunk swam over, board in hand. 

"What happened?" He asked and both Keith and Lance shrugged. Neither one knew anything, and that was going to change soon. 

***

Keith was researching the weird scratch on his leg, not sure what was wrong with it, or why it was burning so much. As soon as he had gotten out of the water, it had started to burn again, the pain nearly unbearable. Nothing was turning up until he saw a link. It didn't make any sense. Why would mermaids show up when he typed in "burning scratch."? Surely mermaids didn't have anything to do with this, right?

As he read through the page, things were starting to make sense. He slammed the laptop shut, and quickly ran into the room where Lance was staying. Keith grabbed lance's shoulder, and shook it. He watched as Lance rolled over, and waited for him to open his eyes. 

"Lance, I think I found something." Keith said. Lance rubbed his eyes a little groggy. He was exhausted from being in the ocean earlier today and kinda wanted to punch Keith in the face. 

"Keith, what the fuck do you want?" He grumbled. Lance didn't do well with being woken up in the middle of the night, especially when he was exhausted. Keith sat down on the edge of the bed, which pulled the covers out of Lance's hands. He dropped his hands and sat up, running a hand through his hair. Keith realized then that Lance slept without a shirt and he had to look away, glad it was dark enough that Lance couldn't see him blushing. 

"I was actually going to ask you what happened when you start to turn into a merperson? Because like, you were originally a human, right?" Keith asked, not sure what to do with his hands. Lance closed his eyes. He wasn't sure how to explain it. There were a lot of ways it happened. He, personally, was bitten by a rouge mermaid, and that turned him. With Keith, though, that was a different case. If a human was scratched by a mermaid, the transformation took weeks and weeks longer. He wasn't an expert though. If anyone was, it was Pidge. 

"Lance?" Keith said and Lance was pulled out of his head. He gave Keith a funny look and got up, walking by Keith. He needed to get ahold of Pidge. Maybe she was in town. She knew more about this stuff than he did, for sure. 

"There's someone who could definiely help, and I gotta find her. You gotta hold on, Keith." Lance said, and walked over to the bathroom. He had to make a communication screen and that was pretty simple. He just had to figure out how close Pidge was, and they would be set. Usually, a smaller surface worked better, but he needed a bigger space to work because the sink was so tiny. 

He filled up the tub with about 3 inches of water, and ran to the kitchen. Keith just so happened to have a thing of sea salt sitting out on the counter and Lance grabbed it, and a spoon. He dumped the salt in the tub, and started to mix it with the water, while he murmured an incantation. It was essentially a summoning spell, but it didn't directly summon the person, only their image. That was what Lance needed. 

Pidge usually kept a small communication screen on her when she went on land, and Lance needed her to pick up. On the third try, she did. 

"Hey Lance! I'm glad you're alive. We've actually been looking for you. Where've you been?" Pidge said, questions flying out of her mouth faster than Lance could say quiznak. 

"I'm fine, but I've got a friend here who is possibly going to turn, which is my fault by the way, and I need your help." Lance said, and Pidge sighed. 

"Hey Keith! Can you come here?" Lance yelled. Keith opened the door, and walked over to where Lance was sitting, and saw Pidge. 

"What the fuck! Why is there a person in my bathtub?!" He cried out, backing away from the tub. Pidge laughed. 

"Look, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm  
Lance's friend and I think I can help you with whatever is going on. I'm over near the pier, and y'all should meet me over their in about an hour. I can help, trust me." She said, and Keith sat down on the floor. Lance disconnected the call and got up. He reached down a hand to help Keith off the floor, but he didn't respond. 

"Keith? Buddy, you okay?" Lance said, and Keith was still not responding to what he was saying. Lance swore. He was going to have to get him to Pidge asap. This wasn't a good sign. Lance managed to get Keith up off the ground, and he gently shook his shoulders. Keith didn't respond and kind of slumped into Lance. 

Lance grabbed Keith's phone, which was sitting on the counter, and went into his emergency contacts and saw Hunk's number. Quickly tapping on the call icon, he desperately prayed that Hunk would pick up. On the third ring, Hunk did and Lance nearly cried in joy. 

"Oh thank god, Hunk!" Lance exclaimed. 

"Lance, what's wrong?" Hunk asked, and Lance wasn't sure how to explain what was wrong with Keith, because he sure as hell didn't know. 

"Meet me at Keith's. Something's wrong with him, and I need you to help me to get him to the pier." Lance explained. 

"Okay, I'll see what I can do. I'll be there as soon as possible," Hunk said before hanging up. 

It felt like an eternity until Hunk got there, and Lance let out a sigh of relief when he opened the door and saw Hunk. The both of them carried Keith into Hunk's car, and tried to put him into a comfortable position. Keith wasn't aware really of what was going on, but Lance and Hunk tried to keep him awake. 

The drive to the pier wasn't long, fortunately and and Lance got out of the car, and ran down the pier, where Pidge was sitting at the end. 

"Pidge, something major is wrong with Keith and I don't know what's going on, but I think he's turning a lot faster than I thought." Lance said, a little breathless. Pidge and Lance ran back down the pier to where Hunk was waiting. Lance could tell almost immediately that something was wrong. When he saw the open car door, that was when he realized Keith had run off. 

"Well, shit!" Lance yelled and he took off towards the waves, the dark water rippling under the light of the moon. 

"Wait here," Pidge said to Hunk and took off after Lance. Neither Hunk or Lance knew that there was a storm brewing, but Pidge knew, and she had to get them back to shore before it hit, or they would all be in danger.


	4. 4: Fully Formed

Keith was under the water, ignoring the burning pain from his lungs. He knew he needed air, but he needed to get away from the beach. Something was wrong. It wasn't anything on land, but he knew there was something wrong with him. Everything would be fine if he just stayed under, he thought, then realized he couldn't do that to Hunk or Lance. Besides, he needed to find Shiro. 

He finally broke the surface of the water, taking in a deep breath. He looked around him, and saw that the shore was probably a couple hundred yards away. He could almost make out three figures standing on the beach. Then one ran towards the water. Shit. Keith had a feeling it was Lance, and he had to go. He dove back into the water, kicking hard. His legs were starting to get numb from the chilly gulf water. It was early summer, and the ocean hadn't warmed up much yet. It was probably the 8th now, but they had already had a storm strong enough to be named sweep through. It had weakened by the time it hit, but it was rough weather. Hurricane Arlene had brought Lance back home, too. 

Unfortunately, it had swept Keith out to sea. Metaphorically, of course, and now, literally. There were minor storms popping up occasionally, and one was beginning to brew over the water. He could feel the water begin to pull him. He was above the water now and he saw Lance maybe a few yards away. There was no use swimming. All he could do was tread water and wait because he was exhausted. This was honestly a bad idea. 

"Keith, buddy, you okay?" Lance called out and Keith looked up. He could see lance's face looked as exhausted as his felt. Keith really wanted to cry, but he was so tired he couldn't. Lance must've seen the desperation or possibly the exhaustion on his face and swam closer to him and just hugged him. 

"Don't worry, Keith, I got you. You're okay, and I'm gonna get you back to shore, alright?" Lance said and Keith nodded. He was trying as hard as he could to stay above the chilly water, his nails beginning to dig crescent shapes into Lance's back. He felt his legs start to seize up and he accidentally kicked Lance in the side. 

"Keith, what's going on?" Lance asked, scared for Keith. He looked delirious and he was barely able to keep his head above the water. Keith kicked him another time and Lance cursed, and began to swim towards shore, as fast as he could. 

"Hang in there, buddy," he murmured, trying to keep Keith's head above water. Lance was scared he was going to drop him, and Keith would be gone. Lance couldn't let that happen. He wouldn't allow it. 

He got to shore, and hauled himself onto the beach as Hunk pried Keith off Lance. Lance could still feel the marks Keith had dug into his back, and he reached back and touched them. When he pulled his hand back, his finger tips were covered in blood. 

Lance managed to stand, and was a little shaky. He was very thankful for the fact that hunk always carried 5 or 6 blankets in his car, because Lance was freezing. He bundled himself up in a blanket in the back seat of the car, next to Keith. They both huddled together, because they were both so cold. Keith was still definitely warmer than Lance, and he really appreciated that, to be honest. Lance was freezing. 

Sitting up suddenly, Lance came to a realization: where had the galra been? They were always drawn to the presence of merpeople, and Lance hadn't seen a single one. Maybe it was a larger group that attracted them. Lance had no clue. He didn't really have an idea of how the galra worked. Honestly, he had only been part of the mers for a few years. It wasn't something he knew that much about. 

He heard a splash in the water and a loud screech. Lance had spoken too soon. They had found them. 

"Everyone, in the car, now!" Lance yelled. Pidge had heard the screech too and she looked back at him with wide eyes. She had only encountered them a few times, the most recent was when they found that human last year. Not having to be told twice, Pidge flung herself into the backseat of hunk's little car, and Lance and Keith followed them. Hunk got in and locked the doors, and sped off, but Keith and Lance hadn't made it to the car yet. Lance swore and Keith shook. He saw a galra begin to drag itself onto the beach. Lance knew he would have to protect both him and Keith from these monsters. 

Keith watched as Lance transformed from a cocky (albeit handsome) boy into what could only be described as a terrifying beast capable of fighting a shark. Fins sprouted from his back and neck, claws grew from his hands, and his eyes went from blue irises to a completely blue eye, no white or pupil present. Blue scales covered his skin, as tough as armor as Lance began in rise in height. Lance was not the Lance he knew. He was in what some may call a true merperson's form. 

Lance was a one person army, and he swang his mighty claws, taking down galra after galra. Something had come over him as he fought and fought, and screeches and screams could be heard over the pounding of the surf. Keith was shocked. The beach began to fill with deep purple blood from the galra soldiers. Lance let out a final screech as he flung the last soldier into the ocean and limped over to Keith. This was the boy that Keith knew. Lance collapsed in his arms, skin warm to the touch. 

"So how did I do?" He asked, before passing out.

***

"Lance, buddy, you okay?" Keith said, nudging Lance. He still felt really warm, and the purple blood that had been spilled by the galra was washing away, but Lance still hadn't woken up. Keith looked for his phone to call Hunk, but it was in the car. Surely, he would realize that he had accidentally driven off without them. Keith heard a car and turned. There was Hunk, and he pulled to a stop, and got out of the car. The door slammed and he started running towards the two of them, Pidge following right behind. Keith had only known her for a few minutes, but he already trusted her to be able to help. After all, she was Lance's friend, right?

"Oh my god, what happened?" Hunk asked, stopping short of the purple blood. Most of it was gone, but there was enough that could be seen in the dim light that came from the sunset. It was nearly too dark to see, and Hunk pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight to see. There wasn't much though, but there was a blue tinge Lance had, that was probably leftover from when he went fully mer, or at least as fully mer as one could get on land. Keith had heard legends from the fishermen on the marina when he would have to go with Shiro to help with their father's fishing boat. It helped pass the time. 

"Well, I can tell he went full mer, and it's probably left him comatose. That takes a lot of energy, you know. Especially on land, when you can't expel the energy through your tail." Pidge said, pushing her glasses up her nose. 

"Yeah, he grew giant claws, and his eyes were completely blue, like no pupil or iris or anything. It was like super intense, and kinda scary. I think he killed somebody." Keith said, not sure what else to do. Pidge nodded. 

"That sounds about right. Hunk, can you help me with him. Keith, you too. He's gonna need to get home and rest. He won't be able to even grow a tail for a couple of days. He'll be so drained from what just happened." Pidge explained, grabbing Lance's arms. Hunk and Keith got both his legs, and draped the blanket he had over his stomach. They got him over to Hunk's car and propped him up in the back seat. Keith crawled in next to him, and Pidge sat up front, and explained the whole full mer thing to Keith and Hunk. 

"Like, it's not to fight sharks or anything, sharks are mostly harmless. It's to fight off the galra. At some point, we evolved an ability to fight them off, and it transfers over to mermaids who were born human, too. I'm not sure how. Also, to answer your question, Keith, I'm pretty sure he killed a couple of galra. Or at least wounded them." Pidge explained. Keith shivered at the though of Lance killing someone. It wasn't like they were harmless, though. Keith and Lance would've probably died themselves if Lance hadn't done what he did. They pulled in at Keith's house and they all got out. 

"I'll run inside and fix up something that I know will help!" Pidge yelled, dashing through the door and into the kitchen. Of course, Keith had forgotten to lock the door. Again. 

Keith and Hunk carried Lance to the couch, and set him down, and Hunk propped up Lance with some pillows. Keith went into the kitchen to see what Pidge was doing, and saw that all the cabinets were open. Keith, while he lived alone, he still knew to stock up on spices and basic cooking supplies, and Pidge was rummaging through the carefully organized spice cabinet that Shiro had put together. 

"Hey! Do you not know that things have their places?" Keith called out, and started putting away spices. Pidge gave him an indignant look, pissed that he was putting away stuff she needed. She did not need tumeric, Keith was pretty sure. 

"Well, I do, but I actually needed that!" Pidge said, grabbing the turmeric. She was making a mess, and it was stressing Keith out. She mixed it all up in the bowl she had and dumped it in a cup. There were spices all over the counter and they were not put away. Keith hurriedly put away everything and cleaned it all up, but Pidge had left the kitchen by then. He followed her out into the living room, and saw Lance was sitting up, and was wrapped in a blanket. 

"Oh thank god! I was super worried, like dude that was a bunch of galra, and you had a fever! You would've died, probably, and there was purple blood all over the place!" Keith said, the words spilling out. 

"Yeah, im fine, just tired, is all. That was a lot of energy I exerted, protecting the both of us. You know what, I need a nap." Lance said, standing up, and he nearly toppled into the floor. Keith caught him. 

"I'm gonna take him to his room, if that's fine." Keith said. 

"That's fine! I'm on my way out, so I'll see you guys. I might come on land a little later this week to see how y'all are doing, but I've gotta head out now!" Pidge said. 

"I've gotta get home too. Stuff to do tomorrow." Hunk said, waving. Both Keith and Lance waved, and Keith helped Lance to his room. 

"Man, I've not gone full mer since that human showed up about a year ago." Lance told Keith. Keith looked at him. 

"What human?" Keith asked as Lance sat down on the bed. 

"Oh, it was this human that showed up. Some galra got too close and had him and it was obvious he had already been bitten by another mer, who must've fled when they heard the galra coming. He was missing an arm, and we took him in. Made a full recovery. He and Allura and Matt get along pretty well. Pidge made him a new arm, and he's been a big help. His name's Shiro. You should meet him." 

At the mention of his brother's name, Keith stiffened. He now knew just what happened to his brother, and Lance could more than certainly reunite him and his brother. 

"Anyways, I'm like super tired, so good night Keith." Lance said, but Keith only half heard it. His brother was alive!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy! So I'm doing a prequel to this that should be done soonish so maybe look out for that! Thanks for reading.


End file.
